Possessions and People in Medieval Britain
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Medieval History and Archaeology General Editors JOHN BLAIR HELENA HAMEROW Gold and Gilt, Pots and Pins MEDIEVAL HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY General Editors John Blair Helena Hamerow The volumes in this series bring together archaeological, historical, and visual methods to offer new approaches to aspects of medieval society, economy, and material culture. The series seeks to present and interpret archaeological evidence in ways readily accessible to historians, while providing a historical perspective and context for the material culture of the period. PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN THIS SERIES THE ICONOGRAPHY OF EARLY ANGLO-SAXON COINAGE Anna Gannon EARLY MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS The Archaeology of Rural Communities in North-West Europe 400–900 Helena Hamerow GOLD AND GILT, POTS AND PINS Possessions and People in Medieval Britain DAVID A. HINTON 3 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan South Korea Poland Portugal Singapore Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © David A. Hinton 2005 The moral rights of the author(s) have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-926453-8 13579108642 Typeset by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd. King’s Lynn, Norfolk Preface and Acknowledgements My interest in medieval artefacts began more than forty years ago when I had the good fortune to be accepted by the late Rupert Bruce-Mitford as a tem- porary assistant in the British Museum. Similar luck led to an appointment at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, where I looked after the Alfred Jewel (Hinton 1973). Although it is now thirty years since I left there, I have con- tinued to work on medieval metal objects as opportunities presented them- selves (e.g. Hinton 1990, 1996, 2000). This book therefore draws on long experience, though it will be obvious from the Bibliography how much I owe to the work of others; in most cases, the debt is directly proportional to the number of entries (e.g. J. Cherry, J. Graham-Campbell, and L. Webster), but the endnotes reveal how much I have also drawn from a few authors who have written fundamental books (e.g. G. Egan and R. Lightbown). All those who knew her will understand why I feel it appropriate to record here the contri- bution to studies of medieval material culture made by the late Sue Margeson of Norwich Castle Museum, who was always so generous in sharing her knowledge. The first draft of the book was written in the second half of 2002 and the first half of 2003, during sabbatical leave; I am grateful to the University of Southampton for allowing me to defer one leave entitlement so that I could work on it for a whole year almost without interruption, and for financial help towards the cost of illustrations. The book benefits greatly from the drawings of Nick Griffiths, and it has been a pleasure to resume a collaboration that began at Winchester in the mid-1970s. I have also been fortunate to be able to draw on the excel- lent photographs taken for the Portable Antiquities Scheme for many colour plates, which has enabled me to reproduce images that are less familiar than some. (Similarly, I have tried in the later part of the book when feasible to use documentary examples that have not been quoted by other writers so far as I know.) In selecting pictures, I have found it very difficult to know whether to reproduce images at their actual size, as so many have exquisite detail that deserves detailed enlargement; on the whole, however, I have felt it better to show these things at their real size, even though it may look a little bizarre to see a lead badge looking rather crude at full size when compared to a gold brooch. Some things have had to be reduced, of course, because of the page size, and a few I have decided to enlarge because their detail seemed likely to be lost altogether otherwise. vi Preface and Acknowledgements Copyright permission given for illustrations is acknowledged in the captions, but I have been helped to collect photographs and drawings both by a large number of friends and by people whom I have never met but many of whom I hope that I can now consider friends: Vivien Adams, Kay Ainsworth, John Allan, David Allen, Paul Backhouse, Roger Bland, Thorn Brett, Michael Burden, Louise Bythell, Thomas Cadbury, Bernice Cardy, John Clark, Julie Cochrane, Maggie Cox, Hannah Crowdy, Jan Dunbar, Bruce Eagles, Helen Geake, Mark Hall, Richard Hall, Stephen Harrison, Jill Ivy, Ralph Jackson, David Jennings, Adrian James, Alan Lane, Christopher Loveluck, Arthur MacGregor, Victoria Newton-Davies, Helen Nicholson, Ken Penn, Daniel Pett, Mark Redknap, Paul Robinson, Peter Saunders, Roland Smith, Shovati Smith, Judith Stones, Tracey Walker, Karen Wardley, Leslie Webster, and David Williams. I am also grateful to the publishers of Anglo-Saxon England, Archae- ological Journal, Britannia, and Medieval Archaeology, of the East Anglian Archaeology and the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society mono- graphs, and of the Council for British Archaeology research report series for permission to reproduce illustrations direct from published work. The launch of the Oxford University Press’s ‘Medieval History and Archae- ology’ series provided the opportunity for this book to appear, and I am grate- ful to Ruth Parr for commissioning it, to the joint editors John Blair and Helena Hamerow for sanctioning it, to the referees of the proposal for rec- ommending it, to the two anonymous readers (one of whom remains frus- tratingly unguessed) of the draft for approving it, and to Louisa Lapworth for seeing it through to publication. Contents List of Colour Plates viii List of Figures ix Introduction 1 1. Adapting to Life Without the Legions 7 2. Expressions of the Elites 39 3. Kings and Christianity 75 4. Alfred et al. 108 5. An Epoch of New Dynasties 141 6. Feudal Modes 171 7. Material Culture and Social Display 206 8. The Wars and the Posies 233 Envoi 260 Endnotes 262 Bibliography 369 Index 429 List of Colour Plates between pp. 212 and 213 A.1. Quoit-brooch from Sarre, Kent A.2. Equal-arm brooch from Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire B.1. Composite disc-brooch from Sarre, Kent B.2. Composite disc-brooch from Monkton, Kent B.3. Sword-pommel from Aldbrough, Yorkshire B.4. Pyramid stud from near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk B.5. Seal-ring from near Norwich C.1. Smith’s tools and scrap from Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire C.2 and 3. Gold pendants from Hamwic, Southampton D. Six brooches from Pentney, Norfolk E. Details of the Pentney brooches F.1 and 2. Panels from the St Cuthbert stole and maniple F.3. Disc from Holberrow Green, Worcestershire F.4–6. Finger-rings from South Kyme and West Lindsey, both Lincolnshire, and from Shrewsbury G. Jug from Exeter H.1–3. Posy-rings from Kirk Deighton, Yorkshire, Alkmonkton, Derbyshire, and North Warnborough, Hampshire H.4–5. Iconographic rings from Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, and Scotton, Lincolnshire H.6. Seal-ring from Raglan, Monmouthshire H.7. Badge from Chiddingly, East Sussex List of Figures 1.1. Late Roman buckle from Stanwick 9 1.2. Traprain Law hoard 10 1.3. Patching hoard objects 11 1.4. Mucking belt-set 14 1.5. Penannular brooch from Caerwent 17 1.6. Mould and reconstruction of penannular brooch from Dunadd 19 1.7. Equal-arm brooch from Collingbourne Ducis 23 1.8. Great square-headed brooch from Pewsey 24 1.9. Great square-headed brooch distribution maps 25 1.10. Button-brooch from Wonston; saucer-brooches from Fairford 26 1.11. Sword and fittings from Pewsey 30 1.12. Claw-beaker from Great Chesterford 37 2.1. Bird-headed penannular brooch moulds from Dunadd 41 2.2. Annular brooch from Llanbedrgoch 42 2.3. Pictish silver chain from Whitecleugh 44 2.4. Norrie’s Law hoard 46 2.5. Motif-piece from Dunadd 47 2.6. The Hunterston brooch 48 2.7. Coin-pendants from Faversham 50 2.8. Balance and weights from Watchfield 52 2.9. The Snape ring 52 2.10. Garnets from Tattershall Thorpe 54 2.11. The Sutton Hoo great gold buckle 55 2.12. Inlaid iron buckle from Monk Sherborne 56 2.13. Hanging-bowl from Loveden Hill 59 2.14. Buckle from Alton 64 2.15. The Finglesham buckle 66 2.16. St Cuthbert’s cross 68 2.17. Woman’s grave and pendant at Lechlade 69 2.18.